


New Start

by AlternativeRocker



Category: Holby City
Genre: F/M, Fluff, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-15
Updated: 2015-05-15
Packaged: 2018-03-30 17:18:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3945166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlternativeRocker/pseuds/AlternativeRocker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Serena has given up alcohol but, after a bad day in the hospital, invites a friend to go to a bar with.</p>
            </blockquote>





	New Start

Serena had lost a patient during an operation earlier and Ric could sense the internal turmoil it caused when he entered their AAU office. Closing the door behind him he looked down at her where she was ignoring his presence by continuing to aimlessly type on her keyboard.

"I heard what happened, it wasn't your fault." Nobody else had dared to interrupt her solitude after a small outburst in the scrub room where she made the younger assistants terrified. Ric had been on the receiving end of her temper enough times to not let it stop him going to collect his bag.

She kept her eyes off him as she eventually leaned her chin on her hand, "I know, doesn't make it any easier though to know I was literally holding the knife as the man died."

"You were fixing his lower back, you didn't cause the brain bleed."

"I should have seen it." She had calmed down and was not going to yell at him - she was more annoyed at herself than anyone.

“Nobody would have noticed it on the scan, it was tiny at the base and had been there a lot longer than his admission to us... Do you need anything?”

"Don't suppose you fancy Albie's tonight?" He raised an eyebrow before she responded to the unasked question, "Not drinking while alone is surprisingly harder for me than not drinking with company."

Serena had given up alcohol six weeks before through her own choice and he had hardly had a chance to speak to her since. As much as he wanted to, he could not work out if going to the bar was a good idea or not, especially since she was emotional. Then he noticed the expression - slightly pleading - that she was wearing and he couldn't refuse.

"I haven't got any other plans so sounds good." More than anything he wanted to get her out of the hospital and away from the usual prying eyes and potential arguments. She was not supposed to finish work until later in the evening but would be no use to anyone were she to stay.

They found a table in the corner that they much preferred to ones in the middle of the floor. As he placed his coat on the back of the chair, he looked over, "Orange juice?" There was no hint of mocking sarcasm which was a new feeling since her abstinence. She supposed he knew what she was going through after his own well-known problems with addiction.

She gave him a shy smile and nodded, "Thanks."

When he returned with two glasses of the orange juice she sighed knowing there would be no secret vodka in his, "You can have a drink, Christ, I'm old enough to control myself. I wouldn't hold it against you."

"I'm fine." He watched as Serena tried to hide a little smile at his decision.

"Just to let you know, I am less entertaining nowadays." She murmured, running a finger around the rim of the glass. Normally she couldn't bring herself to care about the perception people had of her but outside of work hours there had always been drink involved when they were together. She didn't know how they would be without it - they argued when sober and Serena worried maybe that was the real relationship between them.

"Well you always complain that I'm a dull old man so you can join me in being morose. We shall lose our few other friends and spend every waking moment moaning about the world with each other." He loved the sound of her laugh and it pleased him that his day had found a purpose by taking her mind of the surgery earlier. He couldn't remember the exact time his feelings for Serena became more positive than negative but he would not change it for the world. She was enchanting and couldn't imagine her ever being boring.

They couldn't stop glancing across the table and catching eyes. She did not want it to stop yet there was an unfamiliar tension between them which she felt had to be broken until she fell under the spell more, "What?"

Ric had noticed the looks also, and tried to find a way not to have to explain why he couldn't take his eyes off her. "Just wondering how to make future references to you without mentioning Shiraz or Sauvingnon."

"I am sure you will find a way."

He let his tone turn serious, so as to change the subject away from the light chat that they could have done all evening, "How are you really?"

"Coping." She knew he would not have trusted her if she had been wholly positive on the matter, she was getting worse at lying to him. "Days like this make it very tempting - being in a bar doesn't bother me but I can imagine exactly how the Pinot Noir tastes that woman at the bar has. I liked the taste of it more than the effect and the non-alcohol bottled nonsense is just fizzy flavoured water."

"I know you said you gave up alcohol because it was becoming addictive but there was more, wasn't there?" Serena would not give up her rich red wines easily.

She took a minute to gather her thoughts, a hand running through her hair as she replayed that day, "I drunk-dialled Edward and don't remember. Thankfully he had his phone off until the morning and I wasn't stupid enough to leave a message, but I worry about what I would have done if he had answered."

"I am sure you would have come to your senses had he appeared that night."

"I like your faith but we both know how much he affects me. He knows it too, and still plays on it whenever he can."

"You wouldn't do anything with him now, I know you. Even when under the influence you would recall how he hurts you." As the words left his mouth he realised he didn't actually know her all that well, they had become friends finally but neither could write any sort of life history of the other. However, he truly believed she had got over the grip her ex had once controlled.

"Maybe I am meant to be with him, maybe that's why I am can't find someone who I want to stay with - I deserve the unpredictability of that roller-coaster relationship." She had always thought she would be able to control her drinking because of what she had endured with Edward, but it had gradually crept up on her.

"You don't. Honestly, Serena, you will find that magical somebody who will make you want to stay in a happy bubble and who would never wish to make you sad. You could have been calling to get angry at him, don't think the worst of yourself."

"Even if I did believe you, you have to admit my drinking has got out of line, and for me to call him of all my old flames is concerning.” Deep down Serena did think she was over Edward. Unless Ric was in fact right about her intentions that phone call was due to her knowing Edward would agree to a quick shag and not require a reason.

"He meant a lot to you at one or two times in your life, he's your obvious go-to." Ric could understand her feelings yet wanted to convey she was not necessarily seeing clearly.

Serena did not look up as she admitted her next point, “I wish my intoxicated brain had called you. At least you are clever enough to charge your phone when it needs it.” She didn't know what she would have got her drunk self to say if he had been on the other end but Ric was preferable to Edward on all counts.

“I would have calmed you down over the phone and it would have lasted a day or so but you needed a drastic moment of madness - for example, entertaining the notion that Edward was a decent way to spend an evening - to take back your life.”

“Always the moral guide.” Raising an eyebrow he couldn't help but pick up on one of her lines, knowing it would make her smile,

"' _All_ ' your old flames, by the way?"

"Oh, don't worry, Ric, if we were having a competition you would certainly win on quantity of partners." She replied with the welcomed grin as she took a sip of her drink.

* * *

A couple of hours later she was surprised at how content she had grown to be on this night. He knew how to make her smile and their conversation seemed to be flowing as well as it ever had. Another advantage to not drinking was that there was an increased chance of remembering the little tidbits of information about Ric, that would be insignificant to anyone else but were somewhat fascinating to her. It felt as though they were finally getting to know the actual person.

As she giggled again at something they were speaking about, her eyes caught the sight of the clock over his shoulder. Considering she had landed the early shift the following day she knew she had to go home - regardless of how much fun she was having with Ric. He followed her eyes and understood what she was thinking, he wasn't due to start until lunchtime and her schedule admittedly had not crossed his mind. They had long since finished their last glass of fruit juice yet neither had gone back to the bar so when he asked if she was ready to leave there was no hasty final gulps.

They stood between their cars and even though there was a cold wind blowing on them they continued to talk, forgetting again that she should be home. "It feels odd to be leaving you and not getting into a taxi." Serena commented, her keys twirling around one of her fingers.

"Different but not bad." He didn't want her to fall back into bad habits or do something she regretted so chose to reiterate a point, "Serena, trust me when I say there is someone who would love you and make sure that you knew every minute of every day how much you complete his life.”

To show her gratitude for what he had said and the night as a whole she touched her lips to his cheek and lingered long enough for them to begin acknowledging what they felt for the other.

As they looked at the other after breaking apart she plucked up the courage she had been attempting to build for a while, "We should do this again soon." By saying it as casually as she could it allowed her an escape route if he agreed to a simple drink.

"How about making it dinner?" He had wanted to ask her for a long time but it had never felt like the correct time.

"Like a date?"

He rolled his eyes at her merry upfrontness on the matter, wondering if he could backtrack at all. Until he decided he didn't want any crossed wires between them, "Something along those lines."

"That's the best offer I've had all year." They both smirked at the reference to one of their first conversations. She wished he had realised how much she flirted that day, instead of finding every issue possible to contend with her on. It may have saved them from some of what they had been through since meeting.

"Well, I'll speak to you tomorrow and we can think up somewhere nice." Serena liked his use of 'we', as though he was willing to listen to any ideas she had for a restaurant. She leaned in once more to kiss his cheek but changed her mind at the last second, in favour of brushing their lips together.

She doubted she would even have done that after copious glasses of wine so had no idea why she had now. However, before the kiss deepened she took a step back, the sight of the man in front of her looking joyously stunned something she'd have paid to witness before.

"See you tomorrow, Ric."

It had only been during the pondering of the first contact that he realised he had been talking about himself regarding feelings for Serena. The fact she was more than accepting of a date with him was something he never considered would occur, but now it had he would try his best to not let her down. She deserved better than him - he would secretly believe that for ever - yet the idea of her being with another person, particularly her ex-husband was an even stronger fear.

He had not felt this optimistic about either of them for a long time but just maybe this was what they both wanted to move on in their lives with.


End file.
